


One-on-One

by ThisIsJapaneseLunchTimeRush



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Engagement, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 05:10:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4250598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisIsJapaneseLunchTimeRush/pseuds/ThisIsJapaneseLunchTimeRush
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kise is hopeless and Aomine is an idiot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Confession

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a work in progress, but the story itself is done. It's been done for months, actually, but I couldn't think of a title. I'll upload one chapter at a time, probably every few days. 
> 
> Special thanks to StarSeekerSara for being my forever-beta. I'd never have the courage to upload anything without her support.

“Kagamicchi…” Kise began, watching the sniveling Aomine walk off, grumbling to himself about not being sick. He was, and that’s why they had to cut their street ball game short. Kuroko had left earlier, making an excuse and (literally) disappearing. This was the first time Kise and Kagami were left alone together and Kise wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

“Yeah?” Kagami asked, dribbling the ball absentmindedly.

“How do you deal with it?” Kise asked as Aomine’s frame disappeared in the distance.

“Deal with what?” Kagami asked, not sure what the model was going to say.

Kise looked over and said, “With your love for Kurokocchi.”

Kagami’s face quickly turned the color of his hair and he stammered, “I d-don’t—I mean—n-no, why would you—how did you—“

Kise smiled at the flustered redhead and said in an uncharacteristically soft voice, “It was easy to spot, since I’m in the same boat.”

“W-w-with Kuroko?!” Kagami shouted.

“No! Aominecchi!” Kagami stopped, mulling over the thought. Before his mind could decide on what to say, Kise sighed, “It’s been years and…I don’t know what to do anymore. I thought maybe you could help out or we could help each other.” He turned to watch the street, where a few cars were driving by slowly. Everything seemed so peaceful. “We’ll be graduating soon and everyone has different plans. I’d like to confess before then, but…I don’t know how.”

“Not used to being on the other end?” Kagami asked before he could stop himself. It was true. Kise got asked out almost daily, but he’d _never_ asked anyone else out.

The blond shook his head, “Most of the girls who ask me out do it on a whim or because they’re obsessed. They don’t know me. They don’t love me. I love Aominecchi and I don’t want him to reject me or come to hate me for this.”

“I don’t…” Kagami didn’t know what to do. He’d never seen Kise this serious, not even when he had his serious game-face on. This was much different.

“At least Kurokocchi isn’t as hard to read,” Kise shrugged.

Kagami grumbled, “Yeah, okay. Then tell me if he likes me back because I didn’t get the memo.”

“Kurokocchi is simple. He likes you, so he stays with you. Aominecchi is…complicated. One day he’s smiling and cheerful and the next he’s arguing over every little thing and being mean. You never know which Aominecchi you’ll get.”

“Guess that’s true,” Kagami nodded.

Kise sat down on the court and looked up at Kagami. “Have you thought about it? About how you’d ask Kurokocchi out.”

Kagami sighed and reckoned he’d been figured out anyway so it was no use pretending. “I don’t know. I figured I’d just…say it. Probably with some difficulty, but Kuroko isn’t really that hard to talk to…besides that he might disappear on you.”

“Are you afraid?”

“Of course! Who wouldn’t be?! Especially if the person you’re asking out could literally vanish at any point!”

Kise smiled and mused, “Well, if Furihatacchi had enough courage to confess to Akashicchi, then maybe the two of us will be okay.”

Kagami shook his head, “I still can’t believe that happened. I’m afraid for Furihata daily.”

Kise chuckled, “He might not seem like it to you, but Akashicchi is a good person. There’s nothing to worry about. Like how Aominecchi is actually a good person too.”

“Doesn’t seem like it most of the time,” Kagami rolled his eyes, thinking of the cocky and rude teen he’d gotten used to.

“Aominecchi is kind, and very protective. Like when he punched Haizaki.” Kise’s smile became a little sad as he said, “He did it for me, you know.” Kagami raised a questioning eyebrow. Kise nodded, “Haizaki threatened me and Aominecchi lost it. When I confronted him about it, he just said he’d do it for any of his friends. It’s true, of course. He would. He would probably have completely lost it if Haizaki had threatened Kurokocchi…he’s so little and cute, I’d have hit Haizaki myself if he had. But…Kurokocchi is in good hands.”

Kagami looked away and asked, “What if Aomine really meant it to save you? He’d definitely lie if he had, so why believe him?”

Kise drew his knees into his chest and said, “Because I know it’s true. Even if it was Murasakibaracchi or Akashicchi, who can definitely protect themselves, Aominecchi would have stood in the way and protected his friends. You’d do it for the rest of your team too.”

Kagami shook his head, “I’m not sure _why_ you like him, but Aomine isn’t—and don’t you dare tell him I said this—as big of an idiot as he makes himself seem.”

Kise shook his head, “Aominecchi is clueless about feelings.” They sat like that for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Then, Kise got an idea. “Kagamicchi…let’s make a bet. We play one-on-one, and whoever loses has to confess first.”

Kagami’s face went bright red, but he nodded, “Alright.” He was confident he’d win.

 

 

He soon found out that a one-on-one with Kise could be more difficult that going against Aomine himself. Kise knew he had to win. Kagami needed a push and this would be it…but he didn’t want to have to confess, so he pulled out all the stops. Using his perfect copy, he overwhelmed Kagami at the end. Kise used all of the skills he knew and Kagami felt as if he were playing the entire Generation of Miracles at once. It was scary, seeing the blond so focused.

He lost.

Kagami could barely believe it. The two of them lay on the court, exhausted. A good fifteen minutes later, they said their goodbyes and Kagami began to panic. He had to do it. He would have to ask Kuroko out.

 

 

A week before graduation, Kagami made a nice dinner and invited Kuroko over, who accepted readily. Kagami was nervous. When he saw Kuroko, he could barely string together a sentence. Every speech he’d prepared flew from his head and he motioned for Kuroko to follow him. They ate and Kuroko chatted idly at the flustered Kagami.

The moment he got up the courage to, Kagami blurted, “I like you. Please go out with me.” He’d interrupted Kuroko talking about how big Nigou was getting and the smaller boy’s normally blank face turned to one of shock. He dropped his fork and Kagami blushed fiercely, “I-I m-mean you don’t—“

Kuroko moved faster than Kagami had ever seen him and suddenly the blue-haired boy was wrapping his arms around Kagami’s shoulders. “I like you too!” he said, a huge smile on his lips.

Kagami could barely believe what just happened, so instead of trying to put together any coherent words, he wrapped his arms around Kuroko and they sat there hugging for a while, Kuroko in pure bliss and Kagami trying to recover from the shock of actually having confessed.

That night, Kise received a message from Kagami. All it said was: _Your turn._

 

 

Kise was terrified. He kept up the pretense of being his same happy self, but people noticed. Well, by people he meant Momoi and Kuroko. The Generation of Miracles were having a party. A last hurrah together before they all went their separate ways.

Kuroko and Kagami were inseparable. Kise watched (totally not jealous) as they held hands and how Kagami pulled Kuroko to sit in his lap and how absolutely fucking happy they seemed. The only people more disgustingly cute were Akashi and Furihata. Akashi seemed so at-ease with the other boy by his side and Furihata would lean his head on Akashi’s shoulder in this adorable gesture pretty much the whole time. They were so cute!

Kise wondered if he’d ever get to experience something like that.

“Everyone’s having so much fun…why not you, Ki-chan?” Momoi asked him as he leaned on the wall, just watching the couples.

“W-wh—of course I’m having fun,” Kise said, flashing her his best smile.

She sighed, “Ki-chan, I’ve known you long enough to know that that’s not your real smile.”

Kise decided to be difficult. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Momocchi, my smile is real!” he threw in a quick pout.

She gave him an incredulous look and said, “Lie to Dai-chan all you want, but don’t lie to me. I already know your feelings, and—“

“Sorry, Momocchi, I’m feeling a bit thirsty. I’ll go get something to drink,” Kise said, interrupting her. He did his best not to make it obvious that he was running away. Walking over to the drink table, he grabbed a can of juice and noted where Momoi and Aomine both were so he could avoid them.

Before he could move too far, a calm voice said, “Kise-kun, please don’t ignore Aomine-kun.”

Kise jumped as he realized that Kuroko was standing right next to him. “K-Kurokocchi, you scared me!”

Kuroko continued as if nothing happened. “Kagami-kun told me about your bet. Now would be a good time. Take Aomine-kun somewhere more private and—“

“I can’t. I can’t do it,” Kise shook his head, fake smile threatening to fall.

“But Aomine-kun—“

“Y-you should get back to Kagamicchi,” Kise said, ducking away and walking towards the one place nobody really expected him to go. Akashi and Midorima were playing shogi. Furihata was doing that adorable thing of leaning his head on Akashi’s shoulder and Midorima had Takao’s head rested in his lap. Kise sat down and watched for a while before Takao started a conversation with him. Takao was easy to talk to and soon Kise was back to his genuine smile again.

Throughout the rest of the party, Kise kept near Midorima and Takao. Takao was fun to be around, they both liked teasing Midorima, and Aomine disliked the green-haired teen enough not to approach. Kise would hang around Akashi, but he didn’t really have too much to talk about with either Furihata or his former captain. Plus, Akashi had a knowing look in his red eyes that Kise wanted to stay away from. It seemed as though everyone knew of his feelings except for Aomine himself, who was absolutely clueless.

 

 

The next day, Aomine showed up at Kise’s door after school and demanded they go play one-on-one. Kise wasn’t really feeling it, especially since it meant spending time alone with Aomine, but before he could refuse, he was being dragged out of his house by his collar. Aomine expected him to be okay with this. He expected Kise to complain and whine, but when instead Kise got a defeated look on his face, Aomine let his shirt go and began chatting idly about the last game he’d seen.

They got to the court and Aomine easily beat Kise. Not that Kise didn’t try, but before he could get himself into the game, he’d be distracted by how amazing Aomine was. He knew if he tried, he could have possibly tied or won, but his feelings for Aomine kept him from playing seriously.

Aomine noticed that something was off with Kise. Instead of doing what most people would do and ask if the blond was okay, he pushed him harder. Kise seemed disinterested and unfocused, so Aomine pushed him. Made him move. Made easier plays just to keep the blond in the game.

A few hours of this later, they both sat on the court breathing hard and sweating. Kise had tried to leave earlier, but Aomine teased him and the blond figured he could stay a bit longer.

He loved playing against Aomine, as much as it hurt him emotionally.

After he’d regained his breath, he looked over at the slightly taller teen and sighed. Aomine looked so happy. There was an easy smile on his face, sweat lazily rolling off his tan skin. The way he reached up and ran his hand through his hair made Kise forget to breathe for a few moments.

This was it. He drew a breath and said, “Aominecchi…”

“Mh?” Aomine asked, but his eyes followed someone off court.

“I…”

“Check out the rack on her,” Aomine gestured, staring.

Kise felt as though an ice pick had been plunged through his heart. No, he really couldn’t do it. He couldn’t confess to a man who would never see him like that. He felt like crying, but he forced himself not to. If he did, Aomine would just make fun of him and ask why.

Aomine looked back at Kise, “What were you gonna say?”

Pushing through the pain, Kise smiled and said, “I was just going to say that…I’ll be going home first. Goodbye, Aominecchi.” As fast as he could go without arousing suspicion, Kise got up, grabbed his things, and left. He hoped that Aomine would think that his legs were shaking that bad because of the basketball.

In reality, he felt crushed. Though he was lightheaded, there was an unbearable weight on his body. His limbs felt like lead. He clutched his chest as he reached the station to wait for the train. There was a pressure on his heart that was like a fist squeezing tightly. He could barely breathe. Aomine would never know how he had hurt Kise, and Kise thought that was for the best.

The train ride home was long and difficult. Kise had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from crying. He kept a smile on his face in case any of his fans saw him and ignored the occasional buzzing of his phone.

The walk home seemed endless. He dragged his shaking legs one step at a time and tried to ignore the pain in his heart. It was increasingly difficult to hold back his tears as he thought of his unrequited love. He cringed at the thought of what Aomine would have done had he actually confessed. Would he have ended their friendship right there? Would he think Kise was just joking? Would he ever look at Kise the same way again?

As soon as he stepped through the door, he ran to his room, locked the door, and broke down. Curling into his blankets, he sobbed, his heart aching for the one person he couldn’t have.

 

 

The moment he composed himself enough to, Kise called his manager and told her he was ready to model more seriously. He requested that she fill his schedule up to the brim so he would be working from sunup to sundown. She was more than happy to, of course, and he pretended to be just as happy about it.

Graduation came and went and his schedule was never-ending. He would wake up at the crack of dawn and be out hopping from photo-shoot to photo-shoot until it was so late that he could barely stay on his feet. A few shaky hours of sleep later, he would be at it again. The lack of sleep was concerning to his family, and when they mentioned anything about it, he would just shrug it off with his usual cheerful smile.

A few weeks into this routine, he came home early—or, earlier than he had in a long time. It was 10 PM, which he considered pretty good. His sister surprised him with a bored, “Your friend came by earlier. The rude one. He’s been over every few days. Said something about you ignoring him and wanting to play basketball.”

“Aominecchi?” he asked in disbelief. Aomine didn’t go out of his way if he could help it, and Kise’s house was pretty out of the way. Kagami was a lot closer. Kise quickly smothered the hope that maybe Aomine could reciprocate his feelings. No, this was just the same Aomine who was crazy about nothing but big boobs and basketball. Besides, he told himself, this was probably because Kagami was fully invested in his relationship with Kuroko.

“Either stop ignoring him or tell him to get lost. He totally thought we were hiding you up there and that you just didn’t want to lose again.”

“Ah…c-could you…” he took a deep breath, “Could you just either not answer the door or tell him I’ll be really busy?”

“Why don’t you do it?” she scoffed. When she saw the apprehensive and hurt look on her baby brother’s face, she sighed and said, “Alright. I’ll tell him you’re booked for the foreseeable future.”

“Thank you,” he smiled, but it wasn’t his usual toothy grin.

 

 

Kise avoided Aomine skillfully. Whenever the Generation of Miracles met up, he would specifically make sure he was busy. He still saw Kagami and Kuroko and on occasion some of the others. He did grow a lot closer to the tall redhead and his adorable shadow. Momoi tried to contact him and meet up, but Kise knew better. Where Momoi was, Aomine was likely to appear. Not to mention the fact that Momoi still thought Kise had a chance and tried to encourage him not to give up on Aomine.

No matter how well she knew Aomine, Kise knew she was wrong. His love would never be returned and he knew it. Because of his feelings, he had to ignore Momoi as well. He had lost two of his best friends.


	2. Always Busy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who commented and left kudos and even just read this! I love you all, you guys are the best! 
> 
> Here's chapter two.

Kise sat in a bar, disguised. His popularity had soared, so he now wore a black wig, glasses, blue colored contacts, and applied makeup to make him look different. He’d learned the makeup trick some years ago and he’d gotten quite good at it. He could make himself unrecognizable. He walked without his usual happy gait or the smile that so naturally fit onto his face.

This way, nobody bothered him.

He looked up at the TV over his Panini to see his own blond smiling face in a commercial he did for jeans. He was shirtless, as lots of people liked it that way, but he wasn’t sure how it made the jeans look any better. Shrugging that off, he watched as the bartender switched the channel to a basketball game.

Kise’s breath hitched as he saw Aomine running across the court with the ball. The tall blue-haired man went in for a dunk and Kise couldn’t help but think that he could have stopped that point. He smiled sadly to himself as his eyes automatically followed Aomine. He had such a great presence on the court. It was amazing—electrifying, even through the TV.

Aomine had realized his dream. He was a basketball superstar. Him and Kagami both, who were on the same team, but were rarely played together, as it made games less interesting. The two of them together made the matches too unfair, so the team played them one at a time. In some of the wide shots, Kise caught the redhead and could even swear he saw a head of light blue in the front row of the audience. It wouldn’t surprise Kise one bit, of course, the two _were_ engaged.

He shuddered thinking about the fact that he’d been invited to their engagement party. Aomine would be there, seeing as he and Kagami were on the same team and had gotten closer. Kise loved Kuroko and Kagami, but he hated that sometimes when he wanted to come see them, Aomine would be over and he’d have to reschedule. It was hard for Kise to find any free time at all, so it was always a disappointment when he couldn’t see his two friends.

A loud noise from his pocket interrupted him. He answered cheerfully, seeing that it was Takao. He’d gotten to know his green-haired friend’s lover quite well over the years, since he was working in the same daycare as Kuroko. Kise liked Takao because he was just as and sometimes more enthusiastic than him. It was a good change from the usual company he kept.

“Kise~” Takao chimed, “I was just wondering—because Shin-chan is clueless—does Kagami have a blender? I figure he does, seeing as he loves cooking, but I’m not sure. We’re trying to get him something and I thought it would be cute, and if we got some vanilla and some ice cream and milk so Kagami could make Kuroko some vanilla milkshakes. It would be a double-whammy and it’s such a cute idea.”

Kise laughed, “Well, actually, Kagamicchi’s blender is awful. He would definitely appreciate a new one.”

“Yay!” Takao cheered. “Awesome. See you this weekend, then. This is going to be great! By the way, Shin-chan says today you’ll have a nostalgic day and that it’s not a good day to be you. Not in those exact words, but you know how he is.”

Kise sighed, “Yeah, I’m looking at the nostalgia part.”

“Oh, are you also watching the game?! It’s great isn’t it? Man, Aomine can _fly_! Imagine if they had Kagami out there too! It would be insane! Though I think they’d be better off being on opposite teams, but Kuroko said they still play one-on-ones a lot, so that’s good. At least they’re not completely bored _all_ the time. Geez. At least this team hasn’t given up yet.”

“Yeah,” Kise nodded, even though Takao couldn’t see it. He got lost for a moment in the spark in Aomine’s eye. The game was seconds from ending. Kise was glad that Aomine hadn’t fallen into his dislike for basketball again. That was probably because of Kagami, who Kise knew was the only one who could keep pace with Aomine.

Takao spoke then, less enthusiastic than before, “You sound sad, are you okay?”

Kise chuckled, “Yes, I’m fine. Just…this nostalgia is a bit much. It hasn’t been the best of days. At least I get the rest of today off so I can catch up on some sleep later.”

“Good. Do that. Shin-chan says that sleep is very important. He’s a doctor, so he would know. Bye, Kise! Hope you can rest well!”

“Bye, bye,” Kise smiled, hanging up.

A familiar head of dark blue-hair caught his attention on the TV and Kise sighed yet again. Aomine had gotten even more handsome over the years. His muscles were lean and mesmerizing and Kise could feel himself blush as Aomine brushed a hand through his sweaty hair. That gesture should not be allowed. It was too obscene for television. The volume on the TV and the chatter of the bar didn’t allow him to hear the interview, but he knew if he heard Aomine’s voice, he would fall into longing to hear that voice live. He didn’t want to put himself through that again.

Kise had come close to giving up on avoiding Aomine before. It was hard to stay away. He had liked being friends with the taller boy and wished he could be friends with the handsome man. He knew it would hurt too much, though, so he swallowed down his desires and pretended they never existed. Instead, he looked to his phone to go over his schedule for the next day.

He had four photo-shoots and he had to film a cameo he was doing on one of the most popular crime dramas. He would be playing a seductive suspect in a murder investigation. He didn’t have that many lines, but he thought he’d enjoy filming it. He’d liked his last cameo in a different period drama. Acting was fun in general. He did it so often just in his daily life that it was more natural to be somebody else than himself.

That thought scared him. Kise’s motto used to be being honest with yourself, but he hadn’t lived by that motto for a long time. There was the nostalgia again. Why was Midorima’s silly horoscope right so often?

 

 

Kise arrived at the engagement party early. He’d managed to get done with his shoot quickly and headed right over. The party was being held at the couple’s apartment, so nothing too grand, just friends, mostly. Kise greeted them and Nigou and gave the happy couple his gift, which they set on a table to be opened later. Kise was proud of his gift. It was a reservation for two to a restaurant that was nearly impossible to book that Kagami really wanted to try. It was expensive, sure, but Kise and Kagami both made more money than they needed, so the blond figured his friends should treat themselves every once in a while.

Since he was early, he helped out a bit with getting some last-minute things ready, including brushing Nigou, who had gotten huge over the years. Murasakibara showed up next with Himuro in tow and a huge case of sweets. Murasakibara being a fantastic pastry chef, knew that this gift was both expected and loved by pretty much everyone. None more than himself, of course.

Takao and Midorima showed up next, then a few of the players from Kagami’s current team. Their colleagues from Seirin came next, and the trickle of people grew the party steadily. Even Akashi, busy as he was, managed to come with Furihata on his arm. Kise was glad Aomine wasn’t there yet.

Kise got roped into a conversation with some of Kagami’s current teammates and they loved him. He enjoyed talking to them. One of them was a big fan of a show Kise had appeared on and that started a conversation about the other actors. It was nice talking about work with these people who he didn’t know much about and didn’t know much about him. It let him be more open.

“So she’s really that short, then?” one of them asked, referring to the star of the show.

Kise nodded, “Yes, she’s really little and cute! Her—“

“Well,” a strong tan arm draped itself over his shoulder, interrupting him and his happiness, “If it isn’t mister too-busy-to-talk. Haven’t seen you in a long time.”

“A-Aominecchi!” Kise pouted, covering his shock well. Aomine’s arm was warm and muscular and it felt perfect…but he felt small and meek under it, his emotions flaring into misery as his heart skipped a beat.

“I see you’ve met the other idiots. Hey,” Aomine gave a lazy wave to his teammates. They gave similar greetings.

“So,” one of them said, addressing Aomine, “You never told us you had such a cute friend. Why haven’t you introduced us before?” There was a gleam in his eyes that Kise didn’t like.

Aomine pulled him closer, “Back off, asshole.” Kise did his best not to get caught up in the heat radiating from Aomine. He tried not to feel the toned muscle he was being pressed against—tried his best not to remember how much he had loved the man who didn’t feel such a thing towards him. “So—“

Saving his life, Kise’s phone rang. “Excuse me,” he said, trying not to seem _too_ relieved. He saw that it was his agent and answered with a happy, “Hello,” spinning out from under Aomine’s arm.

“You better be free in a few hours.”

“Eh? Why?” he asked, walking over to the open office, where it was quieter.

“You’re being fitted. For fashion week. So many designers want you. You have all the hottest brands booked. I had to reject a few, since you haven’t found a way to teleport just yet, but it’s the ones you liked working with most in the last years.”

“Okay!” he said, more happy to have a real excuse to leave the party early than the prospect of another fashion week eating up the remnants of his free time. “Send me the address and what time I need to be there, so—“

“I’ll send a car to where you are so _you_ give me the location and we’re set. I’ll text you back the details of when exactly the car will be there so you can be on time. Remember. Address. If I don’t get it within five minutes, I’m calling you back.”

“What time is the fitting?”

“Six.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” he said cheerily, hanging up. He quickly sent her the address and she told him the car would be there at five thirty, since it wasn’t too far. That left Kise an hour and a half to deal with avoiding Aomine.

“Busy as always,” Kuroko’s monotone voice said from next to him. Kise jumped, but he’d gotten a bit more used to the short blue-haired man appearing out of seemingly nowhere.

“Yeah,” Kise pouted, “I’ll have to leave early.”

“Are you sure you’re not just avoiding—“

“No, I’m not this time,” Kise said proudly, happy to have an actual excuse.

Kuroko just looked up at him and said, “You should talk to him. Aomine-kun would never say this out loud, but he hates that you’ve been avoiding him. He—“

“Ah, I think I heard Takao calling me,” Kise said, quickly walking back into the crowded living room, ignoring the exasperated little sigh that escaped Kuroko’s mouth. The smaller boy had tried countless times to tell Kise that Aomine wanted them to be friends and that he was hurt by Kise avoiding him, but Kise would not bend so easily.

After some milling about the crowd (always staying across the room from Aomine), he heard a happy, “Ki-chan!” and was wrapped in a hug.

“Ah! Momocchi! It’s been so long!” he said excitedly, squeezing Momoi in a quick hug.

She raised an eyebrow at him and asked sarcastically, “And whose fault is that, I wonder?”

He pouted, “I’m always busy!”

“Ki-chan, don’t lie to me,” she scolded.

Sighing internally, he smiled and asked, “So how’ve you been?”

She thankfully dropped that line of conversation and began talking about her own life.

 

 

He talked with Momoi until Aomine noticed the two of them and Kise quickly ran to the bathroom. When he came out, the large group was gathered around the pile of presents with Kagami and Kuroko on either side of it, Nigou situating his head on Kagami’s lap. It was a good thing Kagami had gotten over his fear, because the little family they had was beyond adorable.

“Ooh! Me first!” Kise called, excited to see Kagami’s face when he saw his present.

Kuroko raised the envelope and gave Kise a nod. He cracked it open and Kise swore his eyes widened in surprise. Handing it over for Kagami to see, Kise smiled brightly as the redhead’s face fell into shock. “B-but these are impossible!”

Kise beamed, “I have a few connections and I know you wanted to go there.”

“T-thank you!” Kagami said, stunned.

Kuroko thanked him too and told the rest of the guests what it was. A lot of them were impressed, and Kise relished in the attention. He had done well and he knew it. Next was Takao and Midorima’s present, which Kagami loved and Kuroko told him instantly that he was expecting milkshakes every day.

The presents continued and about halfway through, Kise became aware of a presence standing a bit too close to him. When he glanced over, he saw Aomine. He wasn’t looking at Kise or anything, but he was standing so that their arms were almost touching. Kise moved away slightly, but Aomine just adjusted to keep the inch-wide gap between them. This was unnerving. The model had a hard time _not_ feeling the heat of the other’s body and had to restrain himself from leaning into Aomine. This party was not going too well. At this rate the walls he had built up over the years would crumble and his heart would be exposed to hurt once more.

Kise glanced at the clock on the wall and tried to relax. It was almost time for him to go. Then he could forget about everything and try his best to never see Aomine face-to-face again. He had considered moving out of the country, but his agent shut the idea down quickly. He was so popular in Japan that it made no sense to move him anywhere else for the time being.

The moment the last present was opened and thanked for, Kise moved to walk to say his goodbyes to Kagami and Kuroko. He was quickly blocked by the tan man he was trying to avoid. Before he could turn away, Aomine said, “Give me your number.”

“Eh? Aominecchi, I need to go, so—“

“C’mon. Don’t be like that. Gimme.”

Kise swallowed and instead looked past Aomine and waved, “Bye Kurokocchi, Kagamicchi! Enjoy your presents!” He rushed away to get his shoes. Putting them on, he hoped it was okay to just stand outside for a little while to wait for the car.

When he rose again, he found Aomine blocking the door. “Kise, what the fuck happened to you?” The blond couldn’t find any words, so Aomine went on. “Seriously, six years? The hell kind of work are you doing that you can’t take a few hours to play some ball?”

Kise stared at Aomine, trying to find something to say—anything. He needed to come up with a lie fast. Looking into the dark blue eyes in front of him, he allowed his smile to drop a little. Saved by his phone yet again, Kise took it from his pocket and answered with a relieved, “Yes?”

“Car’s here.”

“I’m on my way,” he said, hanging up. He pocketed his phone and said, “Sorry, Aominecchi, I have to go.”

Aomine didn’t move and Kise’s stomach dropped. Would he keep him there? Could he? The man he’d loved for so long shook his head incredulously and said, “What did I do?”

“Nothing, you didn’t do anything,” Kise said, plastering his famous brilliant smile onto his lips. It was the truth. Aomine had done nothing but be his usual insensitive self. “I really do have to go, though,” he said, pointing to the door.

Aomine moved out of his way with a grumbled, “Tch, whatever.”

Kise caught a glimpse of the hurt look on the dark blue-haired man’s face and guilt settled down over him like a heavy blanket. Before he could stop himself, he said, “You can always ask Kurokocchi for my number, though.”

With that, he rushed out of the apartment as fast as he could without running, mortified by what he had said. If Aomine got his number, he couldn’t ignore him. Cursing himself, he tried to think of a way out of this. One way would be to text Kuroko and Kagami to make sure Aomine didn’t get his number. But…Aomine could have gotten it at any point he wanted. It wasn’t like Kise’s number was a government protected secret. That bothered him as he walked down the stairs. If Aomine was so adamant about getting his number now, why hadn’t he done it before?

 

 

The next few weeks were a blur of fittings, meetings, and fashion shows. Kise got home to his barely-lived-in apartment and flopped onto his bed, exhausted. At least he had a few days off coming up. Reaching for his phone, he turned off his alarm clock and didn’t bother showering or undressing. He needed sleep.

What seemed like a single blink later, his phone vibrated, still in his hand. Looking at it, he had to rub his eyes to make sure. That definitely said Akashi. “Mh?” he answered, not sure if that was an acceptable way to address Akashi.

“Ryouta, we are all meeting for lunch. I will send over a driver to pick you up in an hour. Be ready by then.”

“Wha…?”

“This is not a request. Goodbye.”

Blinking, Kise looked at his phone as the end tone sounded. Then he noticed the time. It was eleven. He had almost slept until noon. He was still in his suit, he was hungry, and he had no idea what he’d just gotten himself into. Thinking that it was probably not a good idea to piss Akashi off, he got up groggily and walked to his bathroom for a shower.

In a complete daze, he went through his usual morning routine. Once clean and dressed, he sat on his couch with his phone on his lap and figured he’d just close his eyes for a few minutes.

Kise wasn’t sure what a few minutes turned out to be, but he was snapped awake by his phone going off again. He answered and Akashi told him to come down to the car. When he got there, he found Akashi and Furihata in a limousine with Kagami and Kuroko. Kise got in and sleepily greeted everyone, getting varied responses. He didn’t really care, though. His body needed sleep. As soon as he was buckled, he allowed his head to lull back and slipped into unconsciousness again.

He was woken up from his power nap by a low, “Oi, Kise.”

“Mmh,” Kise grumbled, letting his head fall onto the warm soft thing next to him.

“Ki-chan, we’re here,” he heard Momoi’s voice.

“Kise-kun, wake up,” Kuroko’s soft voice said.

Somebody poked his knee and Kise pouted and opened his eyes groggily. A bit of pink caught his attention and he quickly realized he’d leaned his head on Momoi’s hair. Sitting up straight, he chuckled, “Sorry, Momocchi.”

“C’mon, Kise, Akashi will get pissed if we stay in here too long,” came the gruff voice of Aomine from right next to him.

Suddenly very awake, Kise unbuckled himself and practically bolted from the limousine, having to clamber over Momoi, Kuroko, and Kagami. Composing himself on the sidewalk, he properly greeted Akashi and the rest of the Miracles, apologizing for his sleepiness.

They all shuffled into the restaurant and were led to a private room. Kise waited to see where Aomine would sit, but by then mostly everyone else had seated themselves. The chairs were all taken and there was space for three left at the booth. The person sitting on the last seat of the booth was Aomine, which Kise thought was probably not an accident. Smiling his brilliant smile, he tried to usher Kuroko and Kamagi to slide in so he could take the outside seat and avoid sitting next to Aomine.

Kuroko shook his head, “Taiga likes sitting on the end.” Before Kise could argue, Kuroko said with a completely straight face, “You wouldn’t split up an engaged couple, would you, Kise-kun?”

Begrudgingly, Kise slid into the seat next to Aomine, with Kuroko sitting on his other side. Kise permitted himself a sideways glance at the object of his heartache and noticed a definite menacing aura. Aomine seemed angry, glaring down at his menu so intently that Kise thought it might burst into flames.

Kise busied himself with looking at his own menu. He could _feel_ the irritation oozing off of Aomine. He scooted a bit closer to Kuroko, but the smaller man gave him a not-so-subtle elbow in the stomach without even looking from his own menu. Kise placed himself perfectly in the middle of the two blue-haired men and played with the edge of the tablecloth while trying to decide what food he could stomach.

This whole situation was just too awkward. There was chatter around the table, but neither him nor Aomine were talking and when Kuroko spoke, it was to Kagami. Kise thought this was probably some plan that Kuroko had. If he ignored Kise, then Kise would end up talking to Aomine. Momoi was certainly in on it too.

Pouting to himself, Kise did his best to focus on the menu.

 

 

It felt like forever before their food arrived. When it did and they started digging in, Takao shouted across the table, “Kise, you’ve been ridiculously quiet, what’s up?”

“Mh? Ah, just tired, I guess,” Kise smiled back reassuringly.

“Eh, why?” Takao asked. Kise really _really_ wanted to throw something at him to take the attention away. As a model, he loved attention, but he really didn’t need it right then.

Trying his best to keep his smile friendly and upbeat, Kise responded with a shrug, “Fashion week just ended and I haven’t really been able to sleep much.”

The low voice from next to him was a surprise. “Take care of yourself, idiot,” Aomine grumbled, not taking his focus away from his food.

Kise hoped that his silence would render the subject dropped, but Akashi said, “Ryouta, do try to keep yourself healthy.”

With a pout, Kise shrunk into his seat and hoped that everyone would notice that he really didn’t want to talk about himself. Soon enough, the conversations turned away from him and to Takao telling a story about what some kid in his daycare class did. Kise tried to pay attention, but that wasn’t working well with Aomine fidgeting next to him and emitting the annoyed aura that seemed to drag Kise’s mood down even further.

“Ki-chan,” Momoi called his attention.

He looked past Aomine to meet Momoi’s eyes and said, “Yes, Momocchi?”

“That last designer you walked for, who was it?”

Kise blinked, “Momocchi, you went to see the shows?”

She giggled, “We went to see _you,_ silly.”

He was afraid to ask who else she meant by “we.” Instead, he smiled and told her the name of the designer.

That began a conversation between them and Kise was painfully aware of Aomine the whole time. He tried to keep focus on Momoi, but Aomine was between them and he wasn’t exactly small. He was leaning back and Kise and Momoi were leaning forward to look over him. Occasionally, he would take a bite of his food and Kise tried really hard to keep his eyes from following the forkful of food up to Aomine’s lips. Lips he’d dreamed of touching years ago.

The pink haired girl turned the conversation to an interview Kise did. She asked about a few of his answers before Aomine shifted into Kise’s view and asked, “’s it true you haven’t played basketball all this time?”

“Y-yeah,” Kise said sheepishly, looking down at the table.

“Why?”

Kise took a deep breath and plastered his happy smile onto his face. “I told you, Aominecchi, I haven’t had time.”

“Bullshit,” was Aomine’s response. “Oi, Tetsu, Bakagami, we’re playing two-on-two tomorrow.” Kise opened his mouth to argue, but Aomine gave him a challenging look and smirked, “You just told Satsuki you had a few days off. No excuses.”

Turning to Kuroko, Kise glared daggers into the emotionless blue eyes. “Sorry, I was planning on going to see my family, so—“

A sudden weight over his shoulders stopped him in his tracks. Aomine’s low voice said _way_ too close to his ear, “No excuses.”

His glare turning into a pleading look, Kise watched as a small smile tugged at Kuroko’s lips. “Kise-kun, we haven’t played in six years. Let’s play tomorrow.”

“Besides, you’ve seen your family a lot over the years,” Kagami added and Kise shot him the most menacing glare he could muster while Aomine’s arm was casually draped over his shoulders.

“Then it’s decided. We’ll play tomorrow,” Kuroko said with a nod.

“Why wait?” came Akashi’s clear voice. Kise looked over and Akashi was watching him. The whole table was looking at Akashi, who was giving Kise a look that told him he wasn’t going to get out of this. Now that all the attention was on him, he said, “There is a court not far from here. We could split into teams and play. Like old times.”

“Yeah, let’s go!” Takao said, pulling on Midorima’s arm excitedly.

“I will pay and we can be on our way,” Akashi smiled.

Kise was not going to enjoy this.


	3. Breaking Down Walls

Kise got dragged along to the nearby court and they split into two teams. He was with Kuroko, Kagami, Takao, and Midorima, facing off against Himuro, Murasakibara, Akashi, and Aomine. Furihata decided against playing and instead sat with Momoi to watch. When Kise tried to protest that this was unfair and that he could sit out as well, he got shut down by Akashi, who gave him one look and said, “Stay.” Kise then had to keep silent about the fact that having both Akashi and Aomine on one team was pretty much cheating.

The game started slowly, with both teams holding their own. Then the pace increased suddenly and things got intense. The first time Kise got the ball, he tried to move and Aomine was on him so fast he had no idea where the taller man had even come from. Instead of doing anything crazy like trying to get past him, Kise passed to Takao, who kept their game moving.

The more time he spent on the court, though, the more fun Kise had. He couldn’t help falling back into basketball. It wasn’t just the game, though, Kise found himself enjoying Aomine’s presence. As the game progressed, Kise’s bank of moves increased and he stood on a level closer to the dark blue-haired man. He wasn’t anywhere near his skill, but to be fair, he hadn’t played basketball in six years. Considering that, he did great.

Kise found himself watching Aomine’s broad smile. It was a smile he’d missed seeing up close. He became giddy just being near Aomine. Feeding off of his energy, Kise allowed himself to let go of his fears and play basketball with everything he had. The walls he’d built to protect himself from these feelings crumbled to dust. He knew he’d hate himself for it later, but in the moment, he wanted nothing more than to experience playing against Aomine once more with everything he had.

His team lost, though. Even with Kagami, the combination of Akashi and Aomine was too much. Plus Murasakibara’s ridiculous height and Himuro’s skill, Kise’s team was just plainly outmatched. They had hung on, though, ending the game with only a ten point difference, mostly due to the fact that the two couples on his team played so well with one another. Kagami and Kuroko worked together perfectly and Midorima and Takao didn’t miss a beat. Kise was the odd man out.

Exhausted and sweating, Kise settled himself onto his back to rest. He hadn’t felt so exhausted in a long time. His muscles were on fire. Even though he hurt, he was happy. He didn’t know how much he missed basketball. He hated himself for thinking it, but maybe it wouldn’t even be too bad playing two-on-two with Kuroko, Kagami, and Aomine. It might even be fun. His current exercise regimen _was_ boring, so maybe…

He jumped as something cold was pressed against his cheek. He opened his eyes to find Aomine sitting next to him, holding a water bottle. Sitting up, he accepted the bottle with a nod. The water felt great going down his parched throat and he downed half the bottle in one go.

“You did pretty good for not having played in so long,” Aomine said, not looking at him.

“I’ll do better when I have more sleep,” Kise pouted.

Aomine smiled right at him, which sent a blush to Kise’s cheeks, “Good. Get some sleep tonight and we can play more seriously tomorrow.”

Kise nodded and busied himself with the rest of the water. He was sure it wasn’t a _good_ idea to go play basketball with Aomine again, but seeing that smile on Aomine’s face stopped every complaint and excuse he thought of. The annoyed air he’d had during their lunch was completely gone. This was the Aomine who made him smile just by being there—the Aomine who made him regret pushing him away, even if it hurt to have him close.

“So how many days off do you have, exactly?”

Almost choking on the water, Kise tried not to reveal how flustered he was. Why did Aomine want to know? Probably basketball. It was definitely basketball. It couldn’t be anything else. “Not counting this one, four,” he answered as nonchalantly as he could.

Aomine nodded, “Well, that gives us four days to catch up on six years.”

“I _really_ haven’t done anything in the last six years besides work.”

“What about that trip you took with that actress? It was all over the place that you two were happily vacationing.” If Kise didn’t know better, he’d have thought there was a hint of annoyance in Aomine’s voice.

Kise cringed, “That wasn’t a vacation.”

Aomine raised a questioning eyebrow.

“It was for publicity. We didn’t even like each other and all of our outings were planned and scheduled and it was awful.”

“Oh,” Aomine nodded, a bit awkward. “That was some damn good acting, then.”

There were plenty of reasons Kise hadn’t enjoyed himself on that “vacation”, but the number one reason was because he had to pretend to like a girl who he had zero interest in. She didn’t like him, either, saying he was too bubbly for her taste. It had been two weeks of torture. Shuddering at the thoughts, Kise decided it was better not to continue talking about himself. “So what have you been up to, Aominecchi?”

Aomine shrugged, “Basketball.” Watching Kise intently out of the corner of his eye, he asked, “Did you watch any of the games?”

“S-some of them. I tried, but I couldn’t get to all of them. I did watch the most important ones, though. And sometimes I had them on during breaks, but…” Kise pouted and felt bad about not having watched more. He had tried, but they were mostly games that Aomine didn’t play in. Most of the times the games were on, he was too busy to watch them anyway.

Aomine smiled at the flustered blond and said, “Well, I feel like I’ve seen _you_ everywhere. Your big head is all over the place.”

Kise chuckled, but let that line of conversation drop. He didn’t want to talk about himself. Instead, he looked over at the other members of their party. Kuroko had his head rested in Kagami’s lap and the tall redhead was absentmindedly running a hand through his hair. Takao had situated himself in Midorima’s lap, having the day’s lucky item on his own lap, which was a stuffed bear. Furihata was leaning his head on Akashi’s shoulder. Himuro was leaning against Murasakibara’s chest as the giant shared his snacks with his lover. They were all so cute and a pang of jealously hit Kise. He wished he could be that cute with Aomi—someone, he corrected himself. It would never be Aomine, so he would probably have to eventually settle with someone else. It would probably be for publicity too.

He pouted to himself and realized he wasn’t sure where Momoi had gone. Before he could voice his question, something was thrown at Aomine, who caught it by instinct. The pink haired woman ran over with a shopping bag and said, “I bought popsicles! Everyone share, okay?”

Aomine handed him half a popsicle and Kise accepted with a smile. This was just like the old days. The nostalgia unfortunately brought back all the hopes he had about Aomine. This was all too sudden, so he ate his popsicle quickly and found a bathroom to wash his face off and wake himself up from this melancholy.

Wiping his face dry, he noticed Kuroko behind him. This wasn’t even surprising anymore. “Kise-kun, you looked like you were having fun.”

Sighing, Kise said, “Fun time is over. Now it’s time to go home and—“

“Please don’t ignore us tomorrow. Aomine-kun is looking forward to playing basketball with you again.”

“We played today,” Kise said stubbornly.

Kuroko smacked the blond upside the head and said, “You heard Aomine-kun, no excuses. I don’t like seeing my friends sad.”

“Kurokocchi,” Kise pleaded, “Don’t make me do this.”

“You need to,” was all Kuroko said before he walked away.

It took Kise a few minutes to be able to smile his usual bright smile and walk out of the bathroom. He didn’t want anyone to know he wasn’t having fun or they’d question him again.

When he joined the others, it seemed that they were getting ready to leave. That was good, at least. Kise was tired and emotionally drained. It took a lot of energy to maintain his cheery self and he’d surpassed his limit already. His limbs felt heavy and it was hard keeping his eyes open. He wasn’t sure why the wave of exhaustion had taken him then, but he didn’t have enough sense left to think it through.

They got back into the limousine and he ended up sitting next to Aomine yet again. He didn’t really care. With a big yawn, he closed his eyes and hoped everyone would just leave him alone. He let the sounds of the road lull him to sleep.

 

 

Kise had a strange dream. He dreamt that Aomine carried him. He could feel the warmth and snuggled into it, figuring it was in reality his blanket. It was a strange and slightly lucid dream, but he wanted to remember every second of it. He watched Aomine’s face with as much intensity as he could muster, memorizing the curve of his jaw and the slight blush on his cheeks. It was perfect. This dream would have killed him in middle and high school, but now he just let himself have the moment of imagined bliss, thanking his brain for coming up with something so nice.

 

 

Kise woke up groggily and reached for his phone, not wanting to wake up just yet. When all he felt were soft covers, he grumbled and opened his eyes, wondering why he couldn’t reach. What he was greeted with was an unfamiliar sight.

The nightstand was piled with basketball magazines and past it he could see a neatly arranged collection of basketball shoes. Sitting up, suddenly very aware that this wasn’t his apartment, he noticed a mess. Clothes on the floor, piles of random stuff on the desk, basketball posters on the wall. This reminded him of Aomine’s room in middle school.

Still sleepy, he blundered out of the room and followed the soft low humming he heard. His feet carried him into a small kitchen, where he found something he’d only ever dreamed of. Aomine was cooking. Humming to himself, he wandered around the kitchen stirring and adding and all sorts of things Kise had no idea Aomine could do. He remembered that Aomine was almost as bad at cooking as he was, so this made no sense. Plus, he was wearing a dark blue apron. That last bit told Kise he was probably still dreaming.

That moment was when Aomine noticed him. He smiled and said, “Hey, sleeping beauty, finally decided to wake up, I see.”

Kise yawned and leaned against the counter. “…minecchi, this is a weird dream,” he mumbled, wondering why he was having such strange dreams.

“Not a dream, idiot. Wake up already, you’ve been asleep fourteen hours.” Aomine threw a kitchen towel at him and got back to cooking.

With the towel hit the realization that this was actually happening. “W-wait, Aominecchi, what am I doing here?” he asked, gripping the counter as if it could make all of this a dream. It was a nice dream, but reality…Kise could do without this.

Nonchalantly, Aomine took out two plates and said, “You fell asleep in the car and didn’t want to wake up, so Tetsu said since we’ll be playing basketball today anyway, I could just let you sleep in my apartment.”

Of course he had. Kuroko was as resolute as Momoi that Kise suffer at the unknowing hands of Aomine. The only sound Kise could make was a high-pitched, “Oh.”

“Go sit down.  The sooner we eat, the sooner we can play.”

“I d-don’t even have any—“

“You can borrow clothes and shoes, that’s not a problem.”

“But...” And then it hit Kise that the “dream” he had of Aomine carrying him must not have been a dream at all. He rushed out of the kitchen to hide his blushing face and took a seat at the small table. He looked down at himself and realized he was still wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday and that they were gross. He’d played basketball in them and then slept in them. He probably smelled. At least he felt like he did. He definitely needed a shower.

Aomine put down two plates of pancakes. Kise blinked in confusion, to which Aomine laughed, “I promise they’re fine. Bakagami taught me to cook a few things.”

Kise nodded slowly, not sure how to take that news. This whole scene was just…it felt like he was watching Kuroko and Kagami, but he’d been put into Kuroko’s shoes. There was a taller, more muscular man making him breakfast and smiling like this was totally okay. The entirety of this domestic scene just threw Kise off.

“I swear they’re not poisoned,” Aomine said, indicating to the pancakes.

“R-right. Yeah. Pancakes,” he said. He cut off a small piece with his fork and tentatively put it in his mouth. Well, it seemed good. Chewing, he could definitely tell that Kagami had an influence in this. The pancakes were light and fluffy and perfect. That just made the situation even more weird. He busied himself with eating, trying not to lose himself in how cute this would be if Aomine returned his feelings.

“You shouldn’t work yourself that hard,” Aomine said, taking a bite of his own pancakes.

Kise looked up at him curiously, mouth full of food.

Aomine sighed and elaborated. “You were completely out of it yesterday and you had bags under your eyes. I can’t remember ever seeing you with bags under your eyes. Take a goddamn break every once in a while, alright?”

To avoid Aomine seeing the blush he couldn’t keep off his face, Kise hung his head and shoved more food into his mouth.

They ate in silence after that. Aomine finished first and went to get Kise some clothes he could use. Instead of arguing, Kise finished his food and went to change. The clothes were slightly too big and they smelled like Aomine. Kise couldn’t help burying his face into the shirt and breathing in Aomine’s scent. He was disappointed with himself at how creepy and pitiful this was, but he’d torn the walls around his heart down and if this was going to be school all over again, he might as well go all out. Was it an awful idea? Yes. Yes it was. He knew that, but knowing and acting on the knowledge were different things.

 

 

They met Kuroko and Kagami at an outdoor court and didn’t waste much time with formalities. Getting right into the game, Kise tried to ignore the little knowing smiles Kuroko kept throwing him. At one point, he stuck his tongue out at the little shadow and pouted like a child until the game made him forget to.

Playing against Aomine had been fun, but playing with him against Kuroko and Kagami was exhilarating. He was on his toes the whole time. They played well together, especially as both teams had one powerful player and one who wasn’t quite on that level. Kuroko still lacked stamina and Kise hadn’t used his muscles like this in years.

Kuroko and Kagami started out winning, but as Kuroko’s stamina dwindled, Kise got more fired up. He smiled brightly, which reflected on Aomine’s face as well. Seeing Aomine smile so openly right there next to him made him want to smile even more. By the end of the game, they were grinning like idiots.

Sweating and panting, the four of them rode the adrenaline back to Kise’s apartment. He wasn’t sure how they’d ended up there, but he was thankful to take a nice relaxing shower and put on his own comfy clothes.

When he came out of the shower, he found that the other three had raided his kitchen and Kagami was cooking something up. He wasn’t entirely sure what the tall redhead could do in his empty kitchen, but he was pleasantly surprised that by the time Kuroko and Aomine had taken their showers, Kagami had whipped up some delicious smelling food.

As they ate, Kagami took a shower too. Everything about this was strange. Kise liked having his friends there, but at the same time, this was his apartment. It wasn’t entirely a homey place, but it was his. Having Aomine in his space felt odd. He was comfortable with the smiling presence of the tanned man, but a part of him (a part he wished he could make himself listen to) told him that all of this was the worst idea in his life.

Moving to his living room, they decided they’d watch some TV. Maybe they’d even find a game to watch. Kagami sat at the end of his couch and Kuroko—the little devil—put his head in Kagami’s lap and gave Kise a challenging look that told the blond he wasn’t going to get away from Aomine by sitting on the couch.

The only other place to sit was on the loveseat with Aomine. Steeling himself, Kise plopped down next to him and curled his knees into his chest, essentially putting a wall between them. Unfortunately the wall was a part of him and he could feel the heat off of Aomine’s body on his legs. His feet got off the worst. Even curled into himself as far as was comfortable, they still just barely didn’t touch Aomine’s thigh.

They found a game to watch and Kise tried his best to keep his eyes on the TV. That didn’t work too well. With how the loveseat was angled, Aomine was almost directly in his line of sight. He watched Aomine’s face light up as some player made a more complex move and the smirk when he saw something he could have done better. He’d comment occasionally, but otherwise the four of them kept fairly quiet.

Halfway through the game, Kagami and Kuroko said their goodbyes and showed themselves out. Kise moved to the bigger couch and Aomine followed him before he could sprawl himself on it. They ended up sitting together. Kise leaned against the armrest and tried not to dwell on the fact that Aomine hadn’t sat on the other end, but taken a seat closer to him. Playing with a strand of his blond hair, Kise tried not to feel the tension that was slowly building between them. It was his fault and he knew it, but he couldn’t help it. Aomine seemed almost as if he were interested in Kise and the model just couldn’t keep his mind from wandering to the hope that Aomine liked him back.

This started an internal debate where Kise weighed all the evidence for and against Aomine liking him. His rational side had a better argument by far for Aomine’s behavior, but his hope was stronger. Fidgeting in his seat, he realized he’d missed a whole good chunk of the game. This was getting ridiculous. He felt like he did back in middle school when he first realized his feelings for the taller man.

The final straw that tipped Kise’s sanity was when Aomine draped his arms over the back of the couch, which put his hand casually behind Kise’s neck. Chills ran down his spine and the heat of Aomine’s hand was too much.

“Nope,” he said, jumping off the couch and shaking his head.

“Kise, what—“

“No,” the blond said, putting a finger up to shush Aomine. “No,” he repeated. Walking to the other side of the coffee table, he said, “I can’t do this. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t.” His hands were trembling already, so he clenched his fists and took a shaky breath. Looking anywhere but into the confused dark blue eyes, he sighed, “Aominecchi, I’m done. I’m done with this—I’m done with _you_. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that everything’s okay anymore.”

Aomine leaned forward and asked, “What do you mean?”

Knees shaking, fists clenched, Kise didn’t bother to hold back the tears that so easily came into his eyes, “ _This,_ Aominecchi.”

With Kise’s tears came a look of bewilderment on the taller man’s face. “What are you talking about? Kise, you’re not making any sense.” He went to get up, but when he saw Kise stumble away, head shaking furiously, tears streaming down his face, he froze. “Tell me what’s wrong,” Aomine said in the most gentle voice he could muster.

Kise sniffled and wiped at his eyes pointlessly as more tears just kept coming. He couldn’t stop them. He felt broken. Over the years he’d cracked and chipped and now he shattered. He hadn’t cried like this since the day he tried to confess. “Aominecchi, I loved— _love_ you, but I can’t—” his voice cracked. Embarrassed by his sudden outburst, Kise grabbed his phone and keys and stumbled towards the door, “F-forget it.”

“Oi! What’re you doing?” Aomine asked, finally getting enough sense to move. He ran to block the door as Kise quickly put his shoes on. “Kise, stop! Where are you going?” It was obvious the blond was not thinking rationally.

Kise didn’t respond. Instead, he did something he wasn’t sure he was still capable of. Activating his perfect copy, Kise replicated a move Aomine had used to get past Kagami earlier in the day. It was sloppy, but he hoped he’d catch Aomine off-guard enough for it to work.

And it did…until he actually touched the door handle. With lightning speed, Aomine managed to grab his arm and use his momentum against him. Before Kise could even react, his back hit the door and two concerned dark blue eyes were looking at him.

Shutting his eyes, Kise mumbled, “Let go.” He knew struggling against the firm grip Aomine had on his arms was pointless, so he clenched his fists and bit his lip.

“I’m not letting you run away again,” was Aomine’s response. “Kise, talk to me.”

“No. I don’t want to hear your rejection, Aominecchi. I can’t go through this again.”

“Again?” Aomine asked hesitantly.

With a defeated sigh, Kise said, “Of course you wouldn’t remember. Not like it was the most painful day of my life or anything.”

“What day? What are you talking about?” Aomine asked, his grip on the model’s arms loosening.

With a bitter chuckle, Kise finally looked up at Aomine, tears lazily rolling off his cheeks, “The last one-on-one we had in high school. Do you remember it?” Aomine gave a small nod. “I was going to confess to you, but…”

It hit Aomine then. He remembered that day. “Aw shit, the boobs,” he whispered to himself.

“Yes, Aominecchi, the thing you love most in the world other than basketball.” Sniffling, Kise said, “You broke my heart and you didn’t even know it. I cried for hours and you know what, I’ll probably be crying for hours now too.” Wiping at his eyes, the model shook his head, “I can’t stop crying now. My agent is going to be pissed when I come in to work like this. Now could you please leave? I’d rather wallow in my misery alone.”

Aomine let him go, but before Kise could take his sigh of relief, two tan hands had his face and the lips he’d dreamed of pressed themselves to his.

Lifting his hand, Kise wavered between two options. One was to give in and take this sudden kiss and run with it. The other came out as the better option, though. Swinging his hand as hard as he could, he broke his lips away and felt the sting of his palm connecting with Aomine’s cheek.

The blue-haired man took a step back and they stared at one another, both in shock. Kise couldn’t even believe Aomine had the audacity to look surprised. He had to have seen this coming after kissing Kise out of literally nowhere.

Another moment of confused silence passed before Kise’s brain settled for his default reaction. He let his body move on its own and before he knew it, he was out the door and sprinting through the hallway.

Galloping down the stairs, he could hear Aomine scrambling to chase after him.

He ran as fast as he could, vision blurred by tears.

 

 

Kagami opened the door and was shocked to find Kise. His golden eyes were red and puffy from crying, there were tears still streaming down his face. He was sweating and breathing erratically. “Kise, what happened?” he asked, letting the blond through.

Kise shook his head and rambled, “I did it. I screwed up. I’m moving out of the country. I have to. My manager will forgive me.”

“What did you do?” Kagami asked, motioning Kise towards the kitchen. The blond noticed Kuroko napping on the couch, so he followed the redhead and sat down on the floor, Nigou whining and putting his head down in Kise’s lap.

Patting the dog’s head, Kise sighed and tried to keep his voice even and collected. “I confessed to Aominecchi.”

Kagami almost dropped the cup of tea he’d been about to offer Kise. “A-and?” he asked, joining Kise on the floor and holding the teacup out.

The model took the tea and nodded thanks before he shook his head, “I don’t know. I was too scared to hear him reject me, so I ran away. He’s still in my apartment.” He tried to make this all sound matter-of-fact, slightly copying the way Midorima spoke. It wasn’t as hard as he thought. He felt so empty. Nothing really seemed to matter anymore. His brain refused to process what had happened. Yes, he’d confessed, but Aomine kissed him.

Kagami didn’t know what to say. He’d never seen Kise like this. The model was always either happy and cheery or pretending to be. It was strange seeing the defeated look on his face, no trace of his usual sparkle left anywhere. It felt like he was looking at a completely different person.

“I uh…” Kise chuckled humorlessly, “I should have kicked him out before I did something so stupid. Now I can’t even go home.”

“We have a spare room you could use,” Kagami said instinctively.

“But I can’t stay there forever. Kagamicchi, how well do you think I’d do as a model in America?”

Torn between what to say, Kagami settled with what was on his mind. “Kise, you’ll have to face him eventually. You can’t just run from him for the rest of your life.”

“Maybe I can,” Kise said stubbornly. “I’ll call my manager and move out of the country as soon as possible and I’ll never have to see him again.”

“Kise…” Kagami froze, his eyes glancing up. He saw something there and before Kise could even move to see what it was, the redhead fled out the other exit.

Suddenly, Kise’s vision was blocked by the tall tanned man who made his heart ache. Aomine was kneeling in front of him. He reached up and took the cup of tea Kise was clinging to and put it up on the counter. He was sweating, but had a determined look on his face. All the emotions Kise thought had drained out of him were suddenly back in a flood of tears. He really hadn’t cried this much in years.

Aomine reached over and took Kise’s face in his hands. The model’s eyes went wide, tears almost casually streaming down his cheeks. Aomine’s dark blue eyes drew closer and Kise couldn’t look away. “I love you too, stupid.”

Blinking in confusion, Kise figured he must have fallen asleep on the floor and this was one strange dream. It didn’t feel like a dream at all, but it had to be. Kise stared into Aomine’s eyes, searching for something to tell him that this was either a dream or a joke.

“Say something,” Aomine whispered, the look in his eyes shifting from determination to uncertainty and fear.

Kise settled for, “Liar.”

Aomine looked hurt, but he leaned closer and kissed Kise’s forehead. “I’m not lying. I thought I’d made it pretty obvious.” At Kise’s incredulous look, Aomine sighed, “Come on, I’ve been all over you since the engagement party. Satsuki said if I made it obvious, then—“

“Wait. Momocchi knew about this?” Kise asked. He really had to be dreaming. Either that or Kagami had slipped something into his tea and this was a strange trip he was on.

“Of course she did! I couldn’t hide anything from her if I tried! Tetsu knew too. And Akashi, but he knows everything.”

“Wait. Stop. No. This is…no.” Kise pushed Aomine’s hands off his face and anger flared up to replace his disbelief. “When did you…?”

Aomine took Kise’s hands and said, “When you fucking started ignoring me. Satsuki said I didn’t know what I had until it was gone and she was right. She also said I’ve loved you for longer than I know and she’s right about that too. You never answered my calls, though. You ignored me and Satsuki so I figured she was wrong and I tried to just move on, but…then I saw you talking to the idiots from my team and you were smiling that stupidly beautiful smile and I got jealous. Then you tried to run the fuck away and I thought Satsuki had been _really_ wrong.”

“Well she wasn’t. Momocchi’s never wrong,” Kise sighed.

Aomine put a hand on Kise’s cheek and gave him a weak smile, “Come on, don’t make that face. Smile, Kise, we’re in love.”

Kise couldn’t help it when a smile tugged at his lips. He put his hand on Aomine’s and chuckled, “We’re both idiots.”

“Yeah,” Aomine agreed.

“Idiots in love, apparently.” He still wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or not, but he didn’t care anymore. He pulled Aomine forward into a quick kiss. Aomine’s lips were chapped, but warm and perfect to Kise. A giddy smile spread across his face at the sight of Aomine blushing.

He could get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All that's left is a short little epilogue. Hope you enjoyed!


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, guys. Hope you enjoyed it. Just the epilogue left now.

“Aominecchi, come on, we’re going to be late!” Kise walked into the bathroom— _their_ bathroom, which was still hard to believe—and smiled at his lover trying to finish getting ready for Kuroko and Kagami’s wedding. It had taken Aomine and Kise a grand total of two months to move in together, neither one wanting to waste any more time. It still shocked the model every time he thought about it. They’d been together a whole six months already and he was happier than he’d ever been before. “They’ll be mad if we’re late,” he said.

“If they wanted us to be on time, they shouldn’t have given us stupid bowties!” the taller man grumbled, giving up and pulling the thing from around his neck to glare at it.

Laughing, Kise said, “Come here, silly.” The angry pout on Aomine’s face made his heart flutter. It was too cute. He popped Aomine’s collar up and began tying the bowtie.

“How do you even know how to do this?” Aomine grumbled, putting his arms around the blond and pulling him closer.

Kise chuckled and said, “I watched a video.”

“Of course. Why’d I even ask?” Aomine sighed.

“There,” Kise finished. “You look dashing.”

“You should look in a mirror,” was Aomine’s reply. He leaned in and gave Kise a kiss.

Before the kiss could get too deep, Kise broke away and took Aomine’s hand, “We’ll _really_ be late if we don’t leave soon.” Pulling his lover along, he walked to put his shoes on so they could go. He didn’t want to disappoint Kuroko and Kagami on their most important day.

Opening the door to their apartment, Aomine put his arm around Kise’s waist and said, “The only good thing about this suit is the prospect of you taking it off later.”

Giggling, Kise said, “Later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading!


End file.
